Pionus Santor
|rank_and_unit = |allegiance = }}Pionus Santor was the Primarch of the XIXth Legion - the Scions Hospitalier. One of the most beloved of the Emperor's sons, he led his warriors through the Great Crusade and the Icarion Insurrection. Youth Like all the Primarchs, Pionus was created in his father's Laboratory beneath the Imperial Palace, only to the stolen away by the Ruinous Powers. Unlike most of his brothers, Pionus' pod did not come to rest on land. Instead he was set afloat on the seas that covered Iona, save for a single continent. By chance, the pod entered the atmosphere within sight of this landmass, and was spotted by a scientist named Archimados Santor, stargazing with his daughter Inna. Iona had begun as a scientific outpost, and with the onset of Old Night its inhabitants had turned all their knowledge towards keeping their civilisation intact. They succeeded in this, but they knew little comfort during their lives. Conflict was kept in check largely by the danger of violence damaging the undersea structures so many people inhabited. Expeditions were occasionally mounted to the abyssal trenches, where some facilities were known to have sunk. However, almost all who ventured into those depths were devoured by the creatures that lived there, and those facilities found were often buried by tectonic activity or ruined beyond use by the pressure of the water. As the population's resources were denuded, these voyages became steadily more infrequent, and despair loomed in their minds. Archimados was one of the leading scientists seeking a way to stave off this glacial collapse, and in an unusual display of superstition took the infant primarch as a good omen of sorts. Aside from anything else, Pionus was a new element that must surely change the equation in some way. Just how much he would do so, no one could imagine. The child's rapid growth and incredible stature were a source of fear as well as awe, but mostly he was treated with clinical, scientific curiosity. As a result the young primarch regarded himself with a distressing sense of confusion, fortunately eased by his adoptive family. Nonetheless, as his understanding outstripped that of Iona's leading scientists, he worked to understand his unique gifts, and began to put these lessons to use. The high gravity of Iona had resulted in its people developing dense bones and a higher muscle mass than baseline humans. These adaptations also meant that they were well-equipped to receive the improvements that Pionus devised to help them and improve their lives. These were initially based on enhancing their senses and physical strength, and a resounding success. However, as Pionus began more esoteric work on replicating his pulmonary and cardiovascular gifts, he ran up against the limits of Iona's technology. Seeking a solution, he turned to the submerged facilities in the abysses. To deal with the monsters that stood in his way, Pionus turned his intellect toward arming himself and the other would-be explorers. This extended beyond their weapons and armour to include understanding the creatures; Pionus began by hunting smaller beasts, dissecting his kills to glean information on how they might be brought down with relative ease. These lessons were interwoven with his other research, leading to the creation of barbed nets and stabbing spears, employing a crude variety of disruptor fields. Thus armed, Pionus led his expeditions into the depths. These were far from easy, and the explorers faced monsters stronger and more terrible than any they had encountered before. Yet their daring was rewarded as they located several lost bases and retrieved STC templates and lost devices. With these Pionus was able to advance his campaign to grant Iona's people greater vitality and abilities, and for the first time in centuries the undersea settlements began to expand. This process gathered pace over the years, and when the Halcyon Wardens drew near, their leaders perceived a world prospering under a primarch's direction. Reunion On meeting with Alexandros, Pionus felt true kinship with another being for the first time, and to his own surprise had to struggle to restrain his emotions. After enquiring diligently about the Imperium he asked for a meeting with his father and Legion commanders, at which he subsequently swore allegiance and pledged himself to the Great Crusade. He would be mentored by Alexandros, Daer'dd and Icarion during this period, though he was closest to Alexandros In keeping with Pionus' aims, Iona became both a recruitment world and a hub of research into ways in which the Astartes might make war more effectively. The cities expanded, fed by Imperial resources, and the submarine bases salvaged and restored. The one pristine base Pionus had located, which had served as his personal laboratorium, grew to an artificer armatorium. Over the years it played a small but significant role in the development of technologies such as Terminator armour, as well as the Scions’ signature waveblades. The great dangers of underwater combat, in which a single blow could spell death, had left Pionus with a relentless urge to avoid any unnecessary injuries or losses. Consequently, he was troubled by what he saw as the wasteful practices of the Stygian Phantoms, but also wary of forcing change on them. Seeking political advice from Alexandros, he built up support among the officers of the Legion, identifying aspects of their culture and methods which could provide a foundation for his vision. Fortunately in Antonidas he found an indispensable ally, and quickly gained an understanding of the men he was to command. Those close to the Primarch at this time said his demeanour was that of an inmate released from prison. Pionus would in time make his way to Terra, but for now he occupied himself with improving his homeworld and the Legion he had assumed command of. He apprenticed himself to the most accomplished of his brothers, learning what it took to lead the Emperor’s armies. Pionus took the Phantoms’ emphasis on personal excellence and turned it to his own purposes, aiming to create a Legion that would serve mankind more effectively. Instead of prioritising elaborate, dramatic kills, the XIXth began to prize clean victories. At the same time, Pionus encouraged a more compassionate attitude toward the common soldier and an appreciation for what a unified force could achieve, reserving particular praise for the Legion’s apothecaries. Traditionally viewed with some disdain by their comrades, Pionus cast their expertise in a new light; always seeking ways to understand and bring down an enemy as well as to support their brothers, they were potentially the most lethal men in the Legion. These changing attitudes were borne out both by a surge of Astartes seeking to learn the apothecary’s methods and more cohesive unit tactics during the XIXth's battles. Some within the Legion resisted the changes, and continued to perform remarkable feats of arms, but were increasingly overshadowed by the "new" XIXth Legion. As both Ionan and Terran recruits embraced their Primarch’s ways, the old guard shrank in numbers but eventually found a niche within a new order. Most visibly, Antonidas’ elite assault cadre remained and kept their black pearl armour, while the rest of the Legion adopted the white that usually marked a Legion’s medicae, trimmed with arterial red. Pionus applied his analytical skills to finding ways in which his sons could support and learn from their fellow Legions. Sometimes these efforts met with hostility from his brothers, but others responded with gratitude and respect, especially for the Astartes lives that the men of the XIXth worked diligently to save. This gave rise to a new name for the Legion: the Scions Hospitalier. The Hunter of the Depths Pionus' star was ascendant at this time, and he earned much honour and glory for his Legion. However, for all his renown he came into conflict with a number of his brothers, chiefly Raktra Akarro for his frequent atrocities. Relations also soured with Sorrowsworn Morro, and a slow-burning rivalry developed between Pionus and Kozja Darzalas. Alike in their talents, the two disagreed greatly on politics and, above all, the issue of genetic manipulation among the Legions. At the time, however, their differences seemed of little consequence. The Scions flourished under Pionus' command, and they gained powerful allies in the Realm of Yamatar early in his tenure. For the Scions' intervention against the monstrous Ke'mano which assailed the region, they gained the Legio Gojira and House Toho as allies. In the greatest of all his military accomplishments, Pionus took overall command in the Qarith Crusade, one of the Great Crusade's largest and most violent conflicts, leading the counter-offensive which wiped the foul Qarith xenos from the face of the Galaxy. In the aftermath, however, he would become reluctantly embroiled in the Vizenko Prosecution, and from his condemnation of Kozja he was unknowingly marked for death by the Insurrectionist faction. Personality Pionus was a man best described as measured, often grave but possessed of a sly and mischievous sense of humour. Contemplative and ever eager to avoid conflict, he allowed his lieutenants considerable freedom to speak their mind, just as he afforded them a great deal of latitude in the organisation of their forces. Wargear * The ''Leviathan'' - A trident of unmatched splendour, Leviathan was forged for Pionus by his brother Daer'dd soon after he was found. It served him unerringly through innumerable conflicts, its fearsome teeth and disruptor field accounting for dozens of mighty foes. * Posis - While known at times to hurl his trident and impale distant foes, Pionus employed several potent firearms for ranged combat. Most favoured of these was Posis, constructed from an archeotech lasgun recovered from the depths of Mars and fashioned into a pistol in Kirya's forges. * 'The Opalescent Ward -' The Opalescent Ward was perhaps the most advanced of Pionus’ several suits of power armour at the time of the Insurrection's beginning, designed to protect against pressure on the seafloor as readily as it did against enemy fire and blades. It also boasted powerful grav-compensators to make the armour essentially weightless even in the depths of the ocean, as well as providing Pionus with a lethal, esoteric weapon. Category:Imperial Characters Category:S